§ 1161.When Tenant For Term Less Than Life Guilty of Unlawful Detainer
Title 3. Of Summary Proceedings · Chapter 4. Summary Proceedings for Obtaining Possession of Real Property in Certain Cases · Last amended 2025 · Last verified July 29, 2026
Full Text of § 1161
Plain-English Summary
This is the heart of California's eviction statute. It sets out, ground by ground, the situations where a tenant who once had lawful possession becomes an unlawful detainer defendant. Paragraph 1 covers the tenant who stays after the lease term expires without the landlord's permission, including former employees, agents, or licensees whose right to occupy has ended; a tenancy at will still needs its own termination notice under the Civil Code first.
Paragraph 2 is the nonpayment ground — the one behind the familiar three-day notice to pay rent or quit. That notice must state the amount due, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays from the three-day count, and it has to tell the tenant who to pay, how, and where, including mail and electronic-transfer options. Paragraph 3 covers breach of any other lease covenant, such as an unauthorized sublease, and gives the tenant three days to cure before the lease is forfeited. Paragraph 4 is different: waste, nuisance, an unauthorized assignment, or use of the property for an unlawful purpose (including certain nuisance offenses defined in the Civil Code) ends the lease immediately, so the three-day notice here is an unconditional notice to quit, not a chance to cure.
Paragraph 5 covers tenants who gave their own notice to vacate, or whose written offer to surrender was accepted, but who then failed to move out on time. The remaining paragraphs bar landlords from charging fees to serve these notices, define "tenant" by cross-reference to Civil Code § 1940(b), and note the section's February 1, 2025 operative date. Every ground here connects to how the notice must be served under § 1162 and to the complaint requirements in § 1166.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three-day notice grounds for unlawful detainer under § 1161?
Nonpayment of rent (paragraph 2), breach of another lease covenant that can be cured (paragraph 3), and waste, nuisance, unauthorized assignment or subletting, or unlawful use of the property, which forfeits the lease outright (paragraph 4).
Can a tenant fix the problem and stay after a three-day notice?
It depends on the ground. A tenant served for nonpayment or for a curable covenant breach can pay the rent or fix the breach within three days and keep the lease. A notice under paragraph 4, for waste, nuisance, or an unlawful assignment, does not offer that chance to cure — that lease is treated as already terminated.
What must a three-day pay-or-quit notice include?
The amount of rent due, and information on how and where to pay it, including the name, phone number, and address of the person to receive payment, and, if applicable, account or electronic-transfer details.
Does holding over after a lease expires always count as unlawful detainer?
Yes, once the tenant continues in possession without the landlord's permission after the term expires, subject to the tenancy-at-will notice requirement and the special 60-day holdover rule for agricultural leases.
Can a landlord charge a fee for serving these notices?
No. Section 1161(6) bars a landlord or its agent from charging a tenant a fee for serving, posting, or otherwise delivering any notice described in this section.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats 2024 ch 287 (SB 611),s 6, eff. 1/1/2025. Added by Stats 2020 ch 37 (AB 3088),s 16, eff. 8/31/2020.